This invention relates to a position measuring system for vehicles and more particularly to an improved and simplified arrangement for sensing and correcting the course of travel of a vehicle from a plurality of known markers.
There are many instances wherein it is desirable to be able to sense and control the position and course of a vehicle. Such systems permit the automatic control of a vehicle to travel along a predetermined course and to correct the course of travel in the event deviations are sensed. Position sensing and control mechanisms have a wide variety of applications. For example, this can be utilized to control the path of travel of a vehicle along a predetermined course for use in things such as travelling along a golf path, travelling along a path in a factory for conveying purposes or a wide variety of other functions.
The type of sensing devices previously used for this purpose and associated controls have required very sophisticated and expensive equipment. Although a system has been proposed which senses vehicle position by utilizing a plurality of corner markers that are positioned in known locations, the previous systems proposed for this purpose have required the simultaneous reading of the location of the vehicle relative to each of the markers. Such systems obviously become very expensive and complicated.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved and simplified arrangement for determining the position and course of a vehicle through the use of plural corner markers.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved position sensing and control mechanism that operates through the use of three corner markers at known locations and the successive determination of the location of the vehicle relative to these markers and the amount of travel and direction of travel of the vehicle.